The present invention generally relates to networks, and more particularly to a method that allows switches, hubs, or routers to discover its own network number without user intervention.
Internet protocol exchange (IPX) clients, i.e., switches, hubs, and routers, initially assume a network number of zero as they send out their packets. Traditionally, for a client to know its network number, a network administrator must manually assign the network number to the client. A problem exists in that the operation of manually assigning network numbers to the client is cumbersome, especially when multiple clients exist on the network.
Some vendors utilize an IPX general service query (GSQ) packet to establish the network number. By generating the IPX GSQ packet, however, every server/router on the local segment responds to the request to generate unnecessary traffic on the network, and consume a considerable amount of bandwidth. Thus, the system is inefficient, especially if a GSQ request is sent from a remote site to a central site over a wide area network consuming network bandwidth in proportion to the number of services available on the entire network.
Accordingly, in response to the problems discussed above, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved method for automatically discovering a network number.